Srećan Božić: Merry (Serbian) Christmas

Today our family celebrated the Serbian Orthodox Christmas. It was held at my mother-in-laws home, where we were greeted with “Srećan Božić” and given 3 kisses on the cheeks.

Serbian Christmas held every year on the 7th of January. They follow this date from the Julian calendar, which was created under the reign of Julius Caesar in 45 BC. Other countries that are celebrating on 7th include Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Israel, Egypt, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

I’m not Serbian and Marco has been here living in Australia since he was 7 years, so we are not informed about all the traditions. My inlaws lived in Serbia when it was a communist country as well so I’m not sure they follow the religious customs for this day. They did mention fasting on Christmas Eve, but that was it. It was wonderful to celebrate their Christmas with a delicious Serbian lunch and luckily this year the whole immediate family were able to attend.

We started the meal with chicken soup with vegetables and pasta. I think this is like a Domaća supa (domestic soup). This was followed Pogača (bread), which everyone has to grab at the same time and rip off a piece. This was accompanied by the roasted lamb, roasted potatoes, carrots and pumpkin; Serbian green salad, and sarma (cabbage rolls). For desserts, we went a bit vegan. My sister-in-law made a Double Layered Chocolate Fudge Cake (linked photo last time I made it) from the Oh She Glows Cookbook. I made the Crispy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie from the Oh She Glows app (which I also made for my Christmas).

Do you celebrate Christmas on the 7th or on an alternative date?
What do you traditionally eat for Christmas?

When I was young, my mother’s family celebrated what we called “Russian Christmas” on Jan 7. It was great fun to get together with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, & cousins a week after our Dec 25 Christmas to eat, sing songs, and just generally celebrate again. We always celebrated at my grandparents’ house, and thinking back on that is a wonderful memory. So many years ago….

That sounds wonderful! Those kinds of memories you can carry through the rest of your life. I realise that more now I’m all grown up. Its also nice to celebrate after all the Christmas madness and just enjoy each others company. Yours sound like the perfect family day. I love Sarma, I wonder if your halupki are the same or slightly different. Definetely have to visit Russia one day to compare 🙂

Thanks Lane,I’ll have to write a bit more about our Serbian food and do some more Balkan travel posts. Well I’m no expert but I can always question my sister-in-law. Marco knows just as much as me. We don’t celebrate Slava but I’ll take some photos for her next one. My biggest advice for Serbia is make friends to get a dinner invite. They best Sarmas are made at home 😀